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Think back to all the parents to be you’ve ever known and the months of preparation they undertake for their new arrival. I’ve known a few pregnant women whose home becomes a baby showroom over the course of 9 months. Prams, cots, bouncers, clothes, nappies, wet wipes, toys, more clothes, bottles and all manner of gadgets. Take a picture of the bedroom of an expectant parent and it’s likely to look like a clearance sale at Babies R Us.

What do adoptive parents do to prepare? We who have no idea of how old our child will be, let alone the gender.

We’re planning to adopt a child aged between 0-42months. And within that age they are a few things that will be needed regardless of their age. Wet wipes, bath things, cutlery, toys etc. The bits I’ve been buying can be kept for a long time, nothing that will go out of dates. But slowly I have some tangible prove that sometime soon a small person will be here and in our family.

I’ve also been buying photo albums and all the bits for the introduction books. Taking lots of pictures of our home, family, cats and surrounding area too. And safety equipment. So far I’ve only got safety things for the plugs, but as we get closer to out panel date we will start looking at stair gates and door latches!

Some things for adoptive parents (and their family) not to buy!

A pushchair/pram/buggy.

Even though you may know the age group you are looking to adopt, do not buy a pushchair. If for no other reason than there’s a good chance that your little one’s foster care may have one to give you!

A cot/cotbed.

Same as above really. Also even if the foster caring isn’t providing a cot, it would be a good idea to try and buy something similar to make little one feel more at home.

Clothes and toys.

There are some toys you can buy, things that could be used for a long time. But for most of them, they have a life span. The same with clothes. Most little ones come with enough clothes to be going on with.

So far our nursery has been completely re-decorated but the only furniture we’ve put in there is a wardrobes and small chest of drawers. We also have some stacking boxes to keep all the random bits in.

My plan in the next few weeks is to make a series of lists of things we would need for each age group that we can’t buy until we’re matched. Bottles, nappies etc.

What ever their past story, no one can ever say our little one wasn’t wanted….